Conventionally, folding portable telephones having two housings connected to each other through a hinge so as to be freely opened and closed have been widely used. Generally, in a portable telephone of this type, one of the housings is provided with a display section, a receiver, and others, and the other housing has operation buttons, a microphone, and others. Only recently, the market has started for a folding portable telephone having two rotation axes that individually rotate. FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional folding portable telephone 101 in an opened state with two rotation axes. FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating the conventional folding portable telephone 101 shown in FIG. 14 in a closed state. FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the conventional folding portable telephone shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 when viewed from the direction indicated by an arrow VIII in FIG. 15.
As shown in FIGS. 14 to 16, the portable telephone 101 includes a housing 103 having a surface 103a, housings 107 and 108 provided so as to be moved in the direction indicated by an arrow 151 with respect to the housing 103, and a camera section (not shown) contained in the housing 103. The housing 107 contains a hinge unit (not shown) which connects the housings 103 and 107 so that they can be moved, and connects the housings 107 and 108 so that they can be rotated.
On the housing 103 at an end on the side having the hinge unit, hinge supporting portions 104m and 104n are provided being protruded through the surface 103a. The hinge supporting portions 104m and 104n are provided at a distance away from each other. The housing 107 is positioned between the hinge supporting portions 104m and 104n on the surface 103a. Then, the hinge supporting portions 104m and 104n, and the housing 107 are connected through the hinge unit contained in the housing 107.
The surface 103a of the housing 103 has a plurality of operation buttons 118. A surface 103b of the housing 103 located at the opposite side from the surface 103a has a speaker 122. A shooting lens 114 of the camera section is exposed on a surface 153 that is provided so as to be raised to higher level than the surface 103b. The shooting lens 114 is disposed to be next to the housing 108 in the opened state of the portable telephone 101. The camera section is disposed in a space inside the housing 103 sandwiched between the surface 103a and the surface 153. A surface 108a of the housing 108 has a main display section 116.
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the portable telephone 101, when the housing 108 having the main display section is rotated from the state shown in FIG. 14. As shown in FIG. 17, the housing 108 is provided to be rotatable with respect to the housing 107 in the direction indicated by an arrow 152. Therefore, the surface 108a having the main display section 116 can be turned in a desired direction.
Aside from this, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003/229941 (Tokukaihei 2003-229941; published on Aug. 15, 2003) discloses a mobile information terminal device having sub-operation keys provided at a hinge section that connects a first housing and a second housing, the sub-operation keys being operable when the first housing and the second housing are in a closed state, aiming to improve operationality by enabling key operation regardless of whether the mobile information terminal device is an opened state or a closed state.
The above-mentioned conventional folding portable telephone with two rotation axes can be closed with the display section faced inward or exposed outward, so that the portable telephone is free from scratches on the surface when carried. Further, the display can be used even when the portable telephone is closed. Thus, a use application of the device can be expanded.
However, the conventional folding portable telephone has the problem that it is hard to hear sounds associated with displays on the display section when the portable telephone is opened, or when it is closed with the display section exposed outward. A cause of the problem is that the display section and a speaker hole are disposed on different surfaces.